State archive of North Rhine-Westphalia East Westphalia-Lippe department

Landesarchiv NRW department Ostwestfalen-Lippe

Reading room of the State Archives NRW Dept. OWL in Detmold, 2010

The North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives Department East Westphalia-Lippe is the Detmold department of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives . It is a central point of contact for historical research in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe region and genealogy throughout Westphalia .

History and jurisdiction

The roots of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe department lie in the former Lippe state archive, which has existed since the Middle Ages. In 1947 the previously independent state of Lippe was incorporated into the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . Linked to this was the formation of the Detmold administrative district, which resulted from the merger of Lippe with the former Prussian administrative district of Minden . Initially, the archive was responsible for the new government, but in 1955 its competencies were extended to all state authorities in the administrative district. In 1957 it became the third state archive in North Rhine-Westphalia , alongside Düsseldorf and Münster . In 1963 the State Archives were able to move into a newly constructed functional building and store the archive holdings properly. The files of state authorities from the former administrative district of Minden , which had previously been stored in the Münster State Archive , were taken over into the house from 1816. The Detmold house became a double archive in 1964. With the addition of the newly established Westphalia-Lippe civil status archive, the state archive received a significant expansion. Since then, Detmold has been a popular destination for family researchers. In 1990 the archive was expanded: the photo and restoration workshop found a new domicile, the new foyer has been used for frequent temporary exhibitions since then, and the service area has been expanded. On January 1, 2004, the state and civil status archive was incorporated as Department 6 into the new North Rhine-Westphalia state archive . In 2008 the name was changed to the name that is valid today.

tasks

The employees of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives

advise state authorities, courts and institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia on the management and security of their documents,
decide which of the large number of documents that are created there will be permanently retained as archival material and transfer these documents to the archive,
collect documents from non-governmental bodies, e.g. B. by parties, associations and private individuals to supplement the state tradition,
develop the transferred documents in order to create convenient and meaningful access to the archive material,
restore damaged archive material and treat it conservatively,
store the archival material in the magazines of the departments of the State Archives under suitable climatic conditions so that they can survive the next centuries without damage,
provide the archival material for use and advise on research,
make the holdings stored in the archive known to a broad public through publications, archive tours and exhibitions.

The East Westphalia-Lippe department is responsible for the Detmold administrative region.

The stocks

In the magazines of the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Detmold department, over 30 kilometers of shelves are filled with archive material. The holdings are divided into:

approx. 12,000 certificates

approx. 20 km of files

approx. 5 km land registers and files

approx. 90,000 cards

approx. 36,000 photos

approx. 400 (video) films and

approx.12,000 posters

Approx. 7,000 church book duplicates and civil status registers as well as 139,000 civil subsidiary registers

The collections cover 800 years of East Westphalian-Lippe history and range from the Middle Ages to the present day. They are divided into four main groups:

Country lip: The former Lippe state archive forms the core of what is now the East Westphalia-Lippe department. From the lowest level to the ministerial sphere and the judiciary, the administrative activities of a small German state have been almost completely documented since the end of the 15th century. The oldest document from the year 1207 comes from the tradition of the monasteries in Lippe that were dissolved during the Reformation period. In addition, there are the Lippe state parliament archives, the files of the court authorities and those of the Reich governor for Lippe and Schaumburg-Lippe, the archive of the Westphalian counts' college and the Reich Chamber Court files. With the files of the NSDAP district leaderships in Lemgo, Detmold and Lippe, the department has a comprehensive record from the otherwise poorly documented central authority between the Gau and local group leaderships.

Governments of Minden and Detmold: The Minden holdings include the files of the Prussian government of Minden as well as all administrative and judicial authorities located within this district. The tradition begins in 1816 and ends in 1947. This also includes files from the district, local and municipal administrations. The records of state authorities and institutions that continued to exist or were newly established after 1947 form the latest inventory group of the Detmold government. Not to be forgotten are the police authorities, the judiciary as well as the health and social administration. There are also files from federal authorities such as the finance and labor administration. Maps and plans complement these traditions. These stocks are regularly expanded through deliveries to the authorities.

Collections: The Ostwestfalen-Lippe department maintains its collections to supplement the archives of state origin. This includes the bequests of important personalities, pictures of people, buildings and events, posters and pamphlets. Club and company archives that are important for the region are also taken over. The private aristocratic archives in Lippe are on deposit in the department.

Civil status archive: The archive manages the records relating to civil status from all of Westphalia and Lippe, ie from the administrative districts of Arnsberg, Detmold and Münster. These essentially include church registers duplicates for the period from 1779 to 1876, French civil status registers from 1808–1814, Jewish and dissident registers from 1808–1876 and the civil subsidiary registers (secondary registers) for the years 1874/76–1938. The service library has specialized genealogy and family history literature.

use

In principle, everyone can use the archives of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Archives in accordance with the regulations of the North Rhine-Westphalian Archives Act. However, there are legally regulated blocking periods, in particular to protect the rights of individuals. Most of these deadlines can be shortened on request for scientific purposes.

Library

The archive's scientific reference library comprises around 72,000 volumes and contains the most important literature from the East Westphalian-Lippe region. There are also official publications such as statute and regulation gazettes. They often help to understand the contents of a file.

Web links

51.929534 8.880942Coordinates: 51 ° 55 ′ 46.3 " N , 8 ° 52 ′ 51.4" E